UCL Medical School Year DGH visits
Site:
Basildon
Date:
17
th
November 2017
Attendees:
Basildon:
UCL:
1. Discussion points identified prior to visit:
Good practice:
Pilot of simulation teaching for students: simulation will be incorporated into the 2018 Preparation for
Practice attachments and the aim is to incorporate it into the assistantships for the 2018-19 academic year.
Inter-professional learning opportunities: the aim is to provide the simulation teaching above with nursing
students.
Weekly bedside teaching programme for Year 6 students: the Clinical Teaching Fellow (CTF) has recruited 10
doctors in the Trust with certified medical education experience to provide bedside teaching to groups of 3-4
students. This has been well received to date.
High quality teaching: text comments in the SEQs reflect the overall high quality of the teaching provided.
Concerns:
Capacity & standard of the on-site accommodation: see below
Poor quality surgery and LTC placements: see below
Competition Year 5 students face for learning opportunities from student midwives and paramedics: the
Basildon team confirmed that this had not been a problem to date in 2017-18.
Additional areas for discussion:
Use of an electronic feedback form for core teaching sessions: these are being used to evaluate teaching
sessions and record student attendance. Spot checks have been carried out, to ensure students are attending
teaching.
Evaluation of patient feedback forms: following the pilot last year, this project continues for 2017-18. The
students require 3 patient feedback forms to be completed (instead of 5) for module sign-off and they are to
upload them directly to their e-portfolio. To date, none appear to have been uploaded. Dr x will report on this
later in the year.
Review of preparation for practice for 2017-18: see below
2. Issues to be discussed during the visit:
SEQs
Surgery: improvements have been made to surgery placements in 2017-18, which
should be reflected in the SEQs. Although it is difficult to identify issues with the
placements from limited free-text comments, Dr x highlighted the large amount of
paperwork that students are required to complete during T&O placements and will
try to work with the orthopaedic lead to decrease this in the future. Dr xx suggested
speaking to the North Middlesex team to identify why their surgical placements get
good feedback.
LTC: scenario-based sessions are being delivered, which have been well received to
date. Dr x will work with relevant leads to identify areas for further improvement.
SEQ response rates: computer rooms have been booked to enable the students to
complete the SEQs at the end of their placements. The QAU will ensure the surveys
are open on the relevant dates.
Accommodation
Due to previous complaints about the accommodation, Professor x has written to
the Medical Director. White goods, the flooring in some areas and broken windows
and lights have been replaced since our last visit. There has also been a change of
cleaner and cleaning products are now provided to the students. Dr x has been
having monthly meetings with the accommodation manager and home warden. The
Head of Estates and Dr x are due to walk around the accommodation in early
December and discuss the plans for renovation.
Dr xx and yy joined the team for a tour of the accommodation, which included the
communal areas of both renovated and un-renovated flats, although they were
unable to view any of the bedrooms. The flats were clean and were of an
appropriate standard, although it would be preferable if the remaining 50% of the
rooms were also renovated.
Library and IT
facilities
There were some wifi issues in the accommodation at the start of the year, but
these have now been resolved.
The students have access to UCL and learning resources in the library. The staff
organise monthly courses on critical thinking, reflective practice etc which the
students are able to attend.
Mock OSCEs &
New Finals format
2017-18
Mock OSCEs have been held successfully this week. The new format ran smoothly
and the students had provided some very good feedback.
The Basildon team are confident that they will be able to run finals, even without
the availability of Room B1.
Basildon will be hosting re-take students in May 2018 and will develop a plan for the
revision course.
Any local site
issues
Anglia Ruskin (ARU): the first intake from the new medical school will be in 2018-19
and will potentially be about 20 students who will be bussed in from the university's
campus. Dr xx and Dr x are due to meet relevant individuals from ARU to discuss
how to work together.
Curriculum update
from UCL
Owing to amendments to the curriculum elsewhere in the MBBS programme, Care
of the Older Person (COOP) and Primary Care need to become more prominent in
Year 6. Most sites already base their LTC module around COOP, but the potential to
get a higher level of GP engagement with the Preparation for Practice placements
should be explored, possibly through the use of GP trainees.
Potential opportunities for students at Basildon include GP streaming/triage in the
Emergency Department and a greater exposure to frailty and community visits
within the LTC module.
Issues raised by
students
Overall, the students were very happy with their placement. zz and the CTF were
both commended for their help in running the placement. They were very happy
with the mock OSCE earlier in the week. They found it well organised and very
useful.
Medicine: Some students found 4 weeks to be too long on one ward, especially with
teams where there were few patients or few ward jobs to help with e.g. palliative
care. We discussed how to empower the students to seek opportunities on other
wards and with other teams during their placement.
Medical on call was very useful and the students felt that they should all be
encouraged to do this. They would like more information about who to contact and
how to arrange out of hours shifts. We discussed the possibility of rostered on call
shifts and to perhaps ask which doctors would like a student to assist them
overnight.
Surgery: CTC was felt to be a good placement for cardiology, however, there was
less surgical exposure. They were not sure of the purpose of the SRU week and
would again like more information to help facilitate out of hours shifts in surgery.
There were no specific comments about the amount of paperwork within the T&O
week.
LTC: Renal week was felt to be very good, with a lot of teaching.
Acute medicine: A&E placement was great. Doctors actively got the students
involved, clerking patients and carrying out procedures. Students felt that the
doctors on AMU were very stressed and busy. The ambulance day is a useful
addition and provided them with a good experience of pre-hospital care.
Accommodation: overall, the students were happy with the standard of the
accommodation. They felt that maintenance issues could take a long time to
resolve.
Teaching: Well organised overall. They commented that they had been promised an
OSCE revision teaching course, however, this had not yet happened and has now
been reorganised for a weekend. We suggested to the team that this should be
scheduled for during the week rather than at a weekend.
Agreed action points
Action
Basildon
Further review of patient feedback questionnaires at the end of the
attachment. Consider reviewing student feedback regarding this.
Review of inter-professional simulation teaching.
Review the surgery module to decrease the T&O paperwork.
Review the LTC & Preparation for Practice modules to include frailty
and GP streaming.
zz to send yy the date of the SEQ feedback session to ensure the
survey is open.
Outline the plan for the revision course for re-take students.